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Between the contractors working on various projects at my house and a "honey-do list" that I had been firmly advised to get under control, my usually busy early spring fishing schedule has been pretty much a hit-and-miss situation this year. When I did get a possible break and could get out on a lake, it always seemed to coincide with the uncooperative weather we have been having. Adding to my frustration, early last week I received a message on my answering machine that said, "You should have been with us yesterday. We absolutely hammered them." The message was from my friend, Bob Rossa, who operates a Lake Michigan charter boat named The Migrator out of Northpoint Marina. Bob lives in Woodstock and has been competing in tournaments and fishing on the Great Lakes for more than 25-years. For the past couple of weeks, I had been trying to get together with him to go Coho Salmon Fishing on Lake Michigan. Bob called again last Wednesday and said, "The weather report looks good for tomorrow. Can you make it?" It didn't take long to make the decision and we made our plans to meet at Northpoint Marina, on Bob's boat early Thursday morning.
Also with us on the trip was Bob's friend, Tom Manning. Tom is from Huntley and is an avid fishermen and hunter. The purpose for this fishing trip was to take advantage of the spectacular spring coho fishing available on Lake Michigan. "The spring coho action typically starts as soon as the boats can get on the water and will continue until around mid to late June," Rossa said. "Later in the season, when the inshore waters start to warm up, the fish will move off shore to the deeper, cooler water. "It's impossible to predict, but the coho may possibly stay shallow later than normal this year because of the cool temperatures and late spring. Typical weather patterns are about two to three weeks later than normal this year," Rossa said. Early Thursday morning was pleasantly warm, clear and bright with only a hint of a breeze - perfect weather for fishing on Lake Michigan. Spring coho are easily accessible. Typically they are in shallow water (under 50 feet) and less than a mile offshore. Depending on light conditions and weather patterns, at this time of year coho will be close to the surface (typically 5-15 feet deep). The area Rossa chose to fish was straight out from the nuclear plant just south of the Nothpoint Marina. Anyone planning to fish this area is reminded there is a restricted area around the plant that extends out into Lake Michigan for 1,000yards. The coast guard will board your boat if they catch you inside the restricted area. Bob set a shallow spread (5-12 feet) of YellowBirds (Planner boards) and Dipsy divers dressed with five-eighths ounce keel weights, dodgers and tinsel flies. "Tinsel flies in combinations of colors such as blue/gold, blue/pearl, blue/green, blue/purple/red are typical spring coho flies and colors," Rossa said. He also ran a line without planner boards just 'deep enough that it was out of sight from the surface. Trolling speed was set at 2-2.1 mph. In addition to the shallow spread, he also ran two down riggers - set at depths of 18-21feet. "The shallow spread is for coho and the deeper running down riggers are for the occasional King Salmon, Lake Trout or Brown Trout. Each angler is allowed three lines, and with three fishermen on board, we were able to run a total of nine lines. A handy trick I picked up on this trip was to use different-colored Hi-Vis lines. The different-colored lines made it easy to keep track of where all the lines we had out were located. The first fish hit about 2 minutes after we had set our spread and came on a blue/purple/red fly. Each angler is allowed five coho salmon. Within 30 minutes, we had our limit of 15 Coho: That works out to an average of one fish every 2 minutes. It takes time to bring a coho to the net, unhook it and get it in the cooler chest. Manning and I were kept busy cranking in the fish while Rossa was busy working the net or resetting lines. Taking pictures took a back seat to landing a fish, and at the end of the trip I was hoping I had at least one decent photo to run with this article. At one point, we had four fish on at the same time. To say the action was fast, furious and spectacular hardly would do these coho justice. On the trip back to Northpoint, Rossa explained he had expected to catch fish closer to the surface at a depth close to 5 feet, but most of the fish we caught were a little deeper, generally around 10-12 feet. "The coho were deeper because of the bright sun and coho do not like bright sunlight." he said. Spring is a great time to catch the brightly-colored young coho in the 2- to 3-pound range by trolling the surface. Toward the end of August, the coho have grown to 9 to 12 pound size by gorging themselves on alewives. The coho salmon has made Lake Michigan one of the finest angling opportunities in the world and salmon fishing is an experience everyone should have a chance to enjoy at least once. Coho account for more than 50 percent of the annual sport fishing catch. Anyone interested in Lake Michigan fishing aboard The Migrator can give Rossa a call at (815)338-8093 or (815)575-4665. Article written by Ken Poor, NorthWest Herald.
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